My pile of books continues to grow, especially those I keep saying I’m going to read next. There are autobiographies, how-to’s, sci-fi, crime thrillers, self-improvement, cook books, and biographies. So, I’ve decided to focus on a few books to consume this summer. My goal is simple: read for 30 minutes each day. It doesn’t matter what time of day or where I may be, simply read for 30 minutes each day. With that goal in mind, I should be able to get through the majority of my summer reading, listed below:
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
David Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL and is the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training (including two Hell Weeks), the U.S. Army Ranger School (where he graduated as Enlisted Honor Man) and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training.
An accomplished endurance athlete, Goggins has completed over 60 ultra-marathons, triathlons, and ultra-triathlons, setting new course records and regularly placing in the top five. He once held the Guinness World Record for pull-ups completing 4,030 in 17 hours, and he’s a sought after public speaker.
Over the years, he’s shared his story with hundreds of thousands of students across the country, numerous professional sports teams, and the staff at Fortune 500 companies.
For Goggins, it’s all about achieving his personal best and pushing himself well past his comfort zone. He chooses to run the toughest races and put himself through some of the hardest military training programs in the country for no other reason than to see what he’s made of. For him, physical and mental suffering are a journey of self-discovery, no other experience makes him feel more clear, focused and alive.
Unstoppable by Ben Angel
Unable to overcome debilitating fatigue and depression, bestselling author and personal development expert Ben Angel set out on a 90-day mission to find and conquer the root of his rut.
The result of his journey is Unstoppable, a highly revealing book where Angel gives you a look into the world of nootropics, wearable devices, and nutrition and delivers a guide to help you reduce stress, increase focus, improve physical performance, and eliminate your fears. In this book, Angel will help you:
- Identify the seven triggers causing your brain fog
- Discover the key to better health, more energy, and a better mood
- Optimize your mental performance and feel more alert with six nootropics
- Form new behaviors and break old patterns (the real secret to your success)
- Interrupt your stress response through breathing
- Align your biochemistry with your soul’s purpose in three easy steps
- Use progressive overload to become an upgraded version of yourself
Unf*ck Yourself by Gary John Bishop
This refreshing, BS-free, self-empowerment guide from Gary John Bishop offers an honest, no-nonsense, tough-love approach to help you move past self-imposed limitations.
Are you tired of feeling fu*ked up? If you are, Bishop has the answer. In this straightforward handbook, he gives you the tools and advice you need to demolish the slag weighing you down and become the truly unfu*ked version of yourself. ”Wake up to the miracle you are,” he directs. ”Here’s what you’ve forgotten: You’re a fu*king miracle of being.” It isn’t other people that are standing in your way, it isn’t even your circumstances that are blocking your ability to thrive, it’s yourself and the negative self-talk you keep telling yourself.
In Unf*ck Yourself, Bishop leads you through a series of seven assertions:
I am willing
I am wired to win.
I got this.
I embrace the uncertainty.
I am not my thoughts; I am what I do.
I am relentless.
I expect nothing and accept everything.
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
In his travelogue of our near future, David Wallace-Wells brings into stark relief the climate troubles that await—food shortages, refugee emergencies, and other crises that will reshape the globe. But the world will be remade by warming in more profound ways as well, transforming our politics, our culture, our relationship to technology, and our sense of history. It will be all-encompassing, shaping and distorting nearly every aspect of human life as it is lived today.
It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible. In California, wildfires now rage year-round, destroying thousands of homes. Across the US, “500-year” storms pummel communities month after month, and floods displace tens of millions annually.
This is only a preview of the changes to come. And they are coming fast. Without a revolution in how billions of humans conduct their lives, parts of the Earth could become close to uninhabitable, and other parts horrifically inhospitable, as soon as the end of this century.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achillesis a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer’s enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Madeline Miller’s monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction’s brightest lights—and fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.
The Big Flavor Grill by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby
This grilling cookbook is quite awesome. Look at that cover. Grilled avocado? It’s terrific, by the way. Just like the Project Smokecookbook, this cookbook is sectioned into major proteins, veggies, and dishes. And the book details specific instructions on using charcoal and propane. Try some of the lamb and beef recipes!
